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Relationship Building for Research
The Southern Saskatchewan/Urban Aboriginal Health Coalition
Sandra Bassendowski
Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Regina SK, Canada
Pammla Petrucka
Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Regina SK, Canada
Marlene Smadu
Associate Dean, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Regina SK, Canada
Chief Roger Redman
Standing Buffalo First Nation, SK, Canada
Carrie Bourassa
Assistant Professor, Indigenous Health Studies, First Nations University of Canada, Regina SK, Canada
Abstract
The Southern Saskatchewan/Urban Aboriginal Health Coalition is an interdisciplinary, intersectoral team of researchers and communities dedicated to exploring what 'culturally respectful' care means in Aboriginal communities.
Although the purpose of the research project was to examine this concept in an effort to improve health care service delivery and education for health professions, the members of the Coalition realized early in the process that one of the primary factors related to the success of the project would be the building and sustaining of relationships. This paper describes a relational process that was used to initiate, facilitate, and support a research partnership with the Aboriginal communities.
Through a community-based process, two communities and the Coalition used sharing circles and workshops as a method to create relationships and begin a discussion about what constitutes key elements of culturally respectful health care and education. These elements have not yet been determined as the Coalition and community members have focused on fostering relationships which have been critical to building the partnership with the Aboriginal communities.
Keywords
Aboriginal health, relationship building, culturally respectful communication, community-based research, nursing
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